Mates. The way she says the word, I can almost feel the heavy meaning behind it. And I’m suddenly ravenous for her to tell me more.
“No. I don’t know anything about mates.”
Isla steps forward, holding me with the power of her eyes. “Legend says a selkie will know their mate when they are saved by them.”
My mind stutters over the new information. “Owen.” The name pops out of my mouth, and Isla’s quest to seduce the man makes more sense now. “Owen is your mate.”
The guy’s quick thinking is all that got us through that night. The only reason Isla is alive.
But she shakes her head. “I thought so too. Tried very hard to make my heart want him. I thought maybe if he wantedme, then my body would listen to what the fates had told me all those years ago.”
Again, the image of my best friend holding the woman I love invades my mind, and I squeeze my eyes shut, desperate to get rid of the sight.
“Then, I woke up this morning, next to the man I’d always wanted, and I decided that fated mates were overrated.”
I blink my eyes open, staring down into her lovely, upturned face. “What are you saying?”
Isla’s hands settle on my shoulders and then drag down to my chest. “I asked you to kiss me because I’d decided to stop chasing a future I thought I should want and instead pursue the one I actually craved. I was fully prepared to tell the gods they were wrong. But then you told me the truth, and I realized they weren’t.”
“So, you do want Owen?”
Her brows scrunch together as she stares up at me. “No. I wantyou. I’ve always wanted you. And it happens to be convenient that you’re the one who saved my life. That you’re my mate.”
“Whoa. No.” I move to step back, but Isla fists her hands in my shirt, holding me in place. “I’m the one who endangered you. You can’t say I’m your savior when I’m the one who hurt you.”
“Your father hurt me.”
“I let him drive.”
“Parents command a large amount of influence over their children.” She sounds so reasonable, and I want to believe her.
“Looks like you can handle yours pretty well.” I jerk my chin toward the house.
The selkie continues to hold me in place. “Now, I can. Because I’m a grown woman.” Isla traces my face with her gaze. “Would you let your father drive intoxicated now?”
“No way. Never again.”
“And I won’t let my parents’ fear of humans keep me from the person I need in my life.”
“Isla—”
“You, Finn. I need you.”
A groan cracks out of my throat, and suddenly, I’m gathering her up in my arms, holding her close to me as I bury my face in her neck. “I need you too,” I whisper against her neck.
“Tell me who hurt me,” she demands.
“My father did.” And the truth is a stone weight removed from my shoulders.
“And who saved me?”
I can still feel the jab of the knife and my warm blood dripping down my arm onto her wound.
“I did.”
“Tell me who my mate is.” Her arms are tight around my neck, and I revel in the way she clutches me.
“I am.”
